Key aides move to Windsor ahead of Queen's retirement

The Queen has taken a step closer to 'semi-retirement' by moving her two closest members of staff to Windsor Castle and making plans to hand more of her responsibilities to Prince Charles.

Angela Kelly, her personal assistant, and Paul Whybrew, her personal page, have moved to grace-and-favour homes in Windsor in the past two weeks and other key members of staff could soon follow.

The Queen regards Ms Kelly as indispensable - once describing her as 'like a sister' - and her permanent move to Windsor is regarded within Royal circles as extremely significant.

As the 80-year-old Monarch continues to struggle with her painful back, Palace aides are discussing moving some Royal investiture services - the ceremonies in which Birthday and New Year honours such as KBEs and CBEs are awarded - to Windsor.

Under the plan, the proportion of services presided over by Prince Charles would be increased from one third to a half: the Queen would conduct her share of the ceremonies in Windsor while Charles would preside over his events at the Palace.

Royal watchers say that shifting her centre of operations from the Palace to the castle signals a step towards semi-retirement because she had always planned to move there when she started to scale down her commitments.

Ms Kelly, 54, who began her career at the Palace in the early Nineties as a housemaid, moved out of her apartment in Marlborough House on The Mall earlier this month for a house in Windsor Home Park, within the grounds of the castle.

A Roman Catholic born in a council house and a former member of the Women's Royal Army Corps, she is described by colleagues as the Queen's 'gatekeeper' and her 'eyes and ears'. She is trusted with the task of waking the Queen at 8am with a cup of Darjeeling tea, and was once told by the Monarch: "We could be sisters'.

This summer Kelly was appointed a Member Of The Royal Victoria Order - an honour in the personal gift of the Queen.

Paul Whybrew, the 49-year-old son of a bank manager, left his apartment in Kensington Palace ten days ago. He is known to the Queen as 'Big Paul', a nickname which dates from the time Princess Diana's butler, Paul Burrell, used to work alongside 6ft 4in Whybrew in the Queen's service. Burrell was known as 'Little Paul'.

The Monarch, who first moved to Buckingham Palace in 1937 as Princess Elizabeth, has always preferred to stay at Windsor Castle, regarding the Palace as 'living above the shop'.

But a source says her recent problems with a bad back have hastened her decision to shift operations permanently to Berkshire - encouraged by the Duke of Edinburgh, 85, who has been lobbying her to scale down her commitments and move out of the capital.

"Staff have been very surprised by the speed at which events have moved,' the source added. "There is a real sense that we are entering a transitionary period. Paul has been with the Queen for years, while Angela is regarded as the most influential person in the Royal Household - even more so than Sir Robin Janvrin, her Private Secretary.

"The Duke has been pushing hard for the move. He hates living in the Palace. The Queen was easy to persuade because she has always felt more comfortable in Windsor, where she can go for walks in the park. The back problem has made it more urgent."

Around 2,600 people are invested with their honours personally by the Queen or Prince Charles each year. In addition to the 22 ceremonies held at Buckingham Palace, one is organised at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and a further one in Cardiff.

Discussions are continuing about where Sir Robin, who lives in a large grace-and-favour house in Pimlico, Central London, would base himself if the move is completed. One theory is that his two deputies will move to Windsor while he remains in London.

Buckingham Palace aides claimed last night that Ms Kelly and Mr Whybrew had moved out of London for personal reasons.

A spokesman said: "We do not comment on personal living arrangements. There are no plans to handle investitures at Windsor - the Palace is very convenient for transport links. The Prince already takes a third of the ceremonies every year. There are no plans to move the private office down to Windsor."

A spokesman for Charles said: "We are not aware of any plans for the Prince to take more investitures."

Lord St John of Fawsley, a constitutional expert, said the Queen has a strong sentimental attachment to the castle, having been brought up in its Royal Lodge as a child and evacuated there for safety during the war.

"The Queen is essentially a country person, she finds it much easier to relax there,' he said. "She knows every nook and cranny of the place. It would be inconvenient for officials if she made it her permanent base, but there is no constitutional reason why she shouldn't."

Her love of the castle was clear in her distress after the fire which swept through it in her 'annus horribilis' of 1992.

It is the largest, and longest continually occupied, inhabited castle in the world, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror.